TOURISM Golf tourism drive in Perthshire


A new partnership organisation has been set up to develop golf tourism in Perth and Kinross leading up to and following the 2014 Ryder Cup. The Perth and Kinross Golf


Development partnership (PKGDP) will see the local coun- cil work alongside golf clubs, accommodation providers, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Golf Union and VisitScotland, to develop an action plan to attract golfers and tourists to the area. A report commissioned by the


UK failing to capitalise on lucrative Chinese tourism


Te UK’s complex visa system could be deterring thousands of Chinese tourists, according to a new study. The study, conducted by hotels.com,


surveyed 3,000 Chinese residents and dis- covered that 19 per cent felt that the ease of applying for a visa is a top deciding factor when planning a trip abroad. Te UK is at risk of missing out on the


China market to parts of Europe that have signed the Schengen agreement – a deal to provide a single visa for travel to 26 coun- tries in Europe. Details: http://lei.sr?a=9x4J6


Golf is worth £12.8m to Perth and Kinross on an annual basis


council shows that the economic value of golf to the area is £12.8m annually. Te report said that the Ryder Cup, which


is being held at Gleneagles, could lead to a 28 per cent increase in the value of golf tourism to Perth and Kinross up to 2020, representing £17m of expenditure for the local economy. Councillor Joe Giacopazzi said: “Perth and Kinross has a wealth of high quality golf


courses that range from the internationally- recognised PGA course at Glenneagles, to the highly regarded Blairgowrie course and many other scenic nine-hole courses. “Te collaboration will help the develop-


ment and marketing of Perth and Kinross as a top golfing destination, and will enable us to compete with other destinations in and out- side of Scotland.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=C4E3Q


Te windfarm will be built close to Bournemouth Overseas visitors flock to wrong Downton


Tourism in a small village in Wiltshire is booming, all because overseas visitors are mistakenly believing it’s the location of the hit TV series Downton Abbey. Te village of Downton, just


south of Salisbury, has fans of the show flocking to its pubs, report- edly acting as unofficial tourist offices, in their quest to visit the home of the Crawley family, which in reality is filmed in mul- tiple locations across the UK. Despite the fact that the show is


described as being set more than 200 miles away in Yorkshire, it hasn’t stopped fans of the show travelling to Downton to visit the fictional Downton Abbey. Filming for the show has taken place at


Tourists are ending up more than 100 miles from ‘Downton Abbey’


Highclere Castle in Hampshire – the loca- tion for ‘Downton Abbey’ – which is about an hour away from the real Downton, while


the fictional Downton is actually based in Bampton, Oxfordshire. In addition, filming has taken place at locations such as Lincoln Castle, Halton House in Buckinghamshire and Horsted Keynes railway station in West Sussex. Details: http://lei.sr?a=E8K3N


London wants extra funding to become “gold standard” Malthouse, who is also mayor Boris Johnson’s


Kit Malthouse, chair of London & Partners, has said that London should receive a higher share of national funding for tourism so it can act as the “gold standard” to attract visitors to the UK before “persuading them to go to other parts of the country.”


© CYBERTREK 2013


deputy for business and enterprise, said that the UK should exploit the success of the 2012 Olympics with a “London-plus” strategy to send a “powerful message worldwide” from a tour- ism perspective. Details: http://lei.sr?a=E8K3N


Twitter: @leisureopps


Offshore wind farm could damage south coast tourism


Councils on the south coast of England have raised concerns that a £3bn offshore windfarm could deter tourists from visiting the area. Navitus Bay plans to build up to 218 tur-


bines off the coast of Dorset and Hampshire, but new research has suggested that it may put off some tourists from visiting. Te results were part of an assessment done


for the developers, which surveyed 302 busi- nesses and 2,027 visitors to the coast. Bournemouth borough councillor Mike


Green has said the wind farm would “abso- lutely devastate” tourism in the area, which is worth around £500m a year to Bournemouth alone. Details: http://lei.sr?a=q5u7g


Wales must be sold as UK package to boost visitors


Wales should be marketed as part of the UK tourism package should it want to attract overseas visitors, says Cardiff Metropolitan University’s professor of economic geography and regional development. Professor Nick Cliſton said that the vast


majority of overseas visitors travel to Wales as part of a trip to the UK as a whole. “Something Wales suffers from is lack of


awareness in the global market,” said Cliſton. “Promotion of Wales must be linked to pro- motion of the UK.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=r2v2f


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